WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The World Bank raised its projection for Japan's economic growth in a semiannual report released Wednesday, saying it finally has emerged from prolonged stagnation with deflation also ending on improving consumer confidence.
In its East Asia Update, the bank also revised upward its forecast for growth in emerging East Asian economies, boosted by strong export growth to China, Japan and other regional economies as well as the United States.
For Japan, the bank projects growth of 2.8 percent in 2006 in terms of real gross domestic product, unchanged from 2005 but up sharply from 1.8 percent forecast in November. The 2005 growth was up from 2.3 percent projected in November, and the 2007 expansion is expected to be 2.1 percent.